Ill is the Mind
by EmeeEms
Summary: This is my own ending for Hamlet. I had to do it for my english class. Hamlet may not think he's insane but there's a part of him that's well aware...and it wishes for his uncle to suffer the same way. Enjoy and R&R.


Let me explain this. I had to write my own ending to Hamlet for my english class. I thought I did pretty good so I thought I would put this up. enjoy

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**"Ill is the Mind…"**

_The mind is such a deep thing, dark and enigmatic and always conjuring something, whether accidentally or purposely. Though you, Hamlet, had intended to only act insane, your mind, I myself, now says otherwise and it would seem you've failed to realize it. How tormenting it must be to be unaware that you are no longer in control. Hamlet, someone so confident and clever is now losing to his own mind? It was all just a battle that was only expected to fail, so don't bother to bet yourself up about it. He who so wholly yearns for vengeance in the name of a ghost, throws away his healthy mind, trading it in for a diseased one! What a tale to tell, just like the one that led to these events._

_Though in truth you are as unafraid of death as you have claimed, what this true insanity of yours will lead you to would probably only push those forbidding thoughts more. Insulting, plotting and deceiving…would you have realized on your own, my Hamlet, that to kill is one thing but to ruin a life in the ways of mental torture is all so much better. Trust in me, your bending mind, that you are sure to enjoy life once again if your false father figure was left in mindless ruins. Who knows….maybe you will regain your own sanity as you take away the sanity of your "dear" uncle. Do the words of your clever mind speak at all to you? Because you should know…. I would never lie to you….like all around you have so many countless times…_

"Yes indeed…oh ill mind, once again you feed me more thoughts to add to my cunning ways. I thank you and take your advice…to kill is to avenge but to torture is to truly please."

The night was silent as Hamlet stirred in his room, speaking to himself within his own mind. It had been at least three days since he had first found out the truth about his father's death…three days that the word revenge had first filled him. But lately, something has taken over him and has him rethinking his plot to kill his uncle. It must have started when he first say his uncle kneeling down on the floor, praying to god and apologizing for his immorality. To kill him while he's pray and apologizing would only send him to heaven, which was why he decided to wait in the first place. But…another though came to him. If he killed him in his corruption before he had a chance to repent…wouldn't he end up like his father, stuck in between in purgatory? Maybe they would meet? Maybe it would only cause his father's ghost even more misery to see the man who killed him in the same place where he was and for god-knows how long. That too…did not seem fair and this thought caused Hamlet to search deep inside his mind and think. He knew he wanted Claudius dead….but maybe he didn't have to be dead physically. Maybe mentally was the key, advice from his own mind to rob him of his life in the sense of his sanity. To lose that would make you close to dead without actually being dead…dead in mind and that is that. It was in that moment that Hamlet thought of his new trick…the very thing that would drive his uncle into lunacy.

"They think I'm crazy when I talk to that ghost….like I'm talking to thin air," he began, "However, I'm sure that I alone have not been the only one to see that allusive figment. If I help spread a rumor about it…that the king's ghost is appearing here and there, then maybe Claudius, fearing that he will be found by him and punished, will go mad with worry. I shall torment him with worries that shall never become reality."

With his mind now at ease with this new plan, he went to bed without a problem. The night so silent was filled with inaudible laughter of a ghost whose death was most unjust.

* * *

Hamlet walked through the palace happily, a smile on his face and a more mischievous one inside him. He ran through his plan over and over again, making sure he had everything right. He stopped short and looked around the corner to see his uncle and mother, sitting on their thrones and talking to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

"Has either one of you seen Hamlet yet today?" asked Claudius.

"No my lord," they both replied.

Claudius tapped his chin in thought, slightly uneasy at the thought of the insane Hamlet running about. He was starting to get the feeling that Hamlet had violent intentions towards him and him alone…perhaps their minds are linked somehow, one sensing what the other has convinced its owner of. Despite this nagging feeling in the back of his mind, Claudius was unaware of what Hamlet's true intentions were. Hamlet snickered as he watched Claudius think…he looked so foolish as he tapped his chin that way. Hamlet looked around, making sure no one saw him spying and upon seeing the coast was clear, he walked out in a tired fashion, putting on a wonder act, even more wonderful then the insane one before it. He walked out slowly, his head hanging low as his hand was on his forehead, as if he had a terrible headache. A hint of fatigue glinted in his half opened eyes as he dizzily made his way to his mother and uncle. He stopped in between Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and somewhat lifted his head to look up at his mother and uncle, his expression showing pain and exhaustion.

"Tell me please…tell me everything was just some nightmare from my enigmatic mind," he said to them, his hand still gripping at his head, "Please….those horrors in my dreams, please let them be some terrible lie, it can't be true!"

"Hamlet, what are talking about?" asked Gertrude with concern.

"Where've you been?!" scolded Claudius.

Gertrude passed Claudius a look, ordering him to stay seated and remain in silence. She turned back to Hamlet, who stood in pain and remorse and her eyes became saddened.

"Hamlet…"

"Please mother…tell me I'm good," he pleaded.

"Hamlet, you are good…but..."

The sound of her words trailing off shook Hamlet with a burst of anxiety and dread. He shot up his head and looked at her, his eyes filled with fear.

"Oh no, it can't be true!" he shouted, "I had hoped…hoped so much that what I had seen was nothing more then a terrible figment of my mind. But the sound of your voice says otherwise."

Claudius gave him a curious look. All of his worries from before had gone away with the sound of Hamlet's remorseful voice…at least to them he sounded less crazy and more remorseful. Hamlet continued to speak in dread.

"I had awoke in my bed…not too long ago, with me a terrible headache and image in my mind. I had a dream…a nightmare in which I did such unspeakable things. I spoke of things that not even I understand and did things as bad as…murder. Oh I shake from this feeling inside, it makes me sick!"

Hamlet held up his hands, showing that they were shaking badly and he then fell to his knees, holding his stomach in pain.

"I sicken me! Even in dream I am vile enough to cause myself illness! Is it all a dream or was I truly that monster?!"

He stared at his mother, fixed on her face and showing her that he expected an answer from her and her alone. Though he had been showing pure disgust for his mother he now shifted it to respect and devotion. Gertrude said nothing but solemnly nodded her head yes and watched as Hamlet began to break down. He then crawled to Claudius, shocking them both.

"My uncle? Oh yes….my father is long gone from this world," Hamlet pretended as he hung his head low in sorrow, "I should be able to trust you too…as I did him. After all…the way I saw it in my dream is not the same as it is in our reality…or is it? After all…"

He stared deeply into Claudius's eyes, which slowly began to grow in fear.

"…I did do all of those terrible things, didn't I? So what would make that part of it any different from the rest….it was the reason why…I acted so horribly."

Gertrude, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern all looked at Claudius as his face grew in terror. He noticed their curiosity and he grew more and more uneasy with every minute as Hamlet, seeing his discomfort, continued in his act of remorse.

"Oh my uncle, I know you're an honest man and all but right now you look so nervous. Is there a reason why? Is it my dream that discomforts you or the fact that it's all real?"

Hamlet rose from his spot on the floor and ran off. He cried out to them that he, unlike his dream, was sane. Claudius immediately rose from his seat and left the room before anyone could question him about Hamlet's words. He just wanted to be alone right now.

* * *

Claudius sat on his bed, uneasily tapping his foot as he thought things over. But, a sudden sound emitted from somewhere around him, breaking him away from his guilty thoughts. He listened carefully and could hear the sound of someone's voice speaking and as he rose to his feet, he heard the sound of something moving. He listened to the voice and couldn't tell who it was and as he searched for where the voice was loudest, he tripped on a loose floorboard. He stopped short and saw the loose board and stepped back to avoid it, only for his foot to break into another loose and frailer floorboard. Pulling his foot free from the floor he looked and saw that underneath the board were at least four or five bottles of…ear poison. Horrified at the sight of his own past evil, he fell backwards and fell onto the bed where he once again heard the sound of glass clanging together like before. Claudius paused for a moment and then slightly moved around on the bed, hearing the noise again. In disbelief, he stumbled off of the bed and violently removed the mattress, uncovering a ton of small glass bottles of ear poison. Claudius backed away into a corner and could hear the haunting words of the mysterious person's voice.

"…_and he crept into his majesty's chamber like a rat…"_

"No…no…"

"…_oh so clever is he, a man so vile. He poured that poison in with a toothy gin…"_

"No, no no!!! Stop!"

"…_but the word is out…it's out, it's out cause of some little bird who let it slip…"_

Claudius became still at the sound of their words…the word is out? He was horrified of those words and he felt as if he had stopped breathing for a moment.

_"…people in the streets are demanding for his head….oh won't it look nice on some spike?…."_

Claudius rose to his feet in a panic, trying to get to the door but came across another bottle of poison at each turn. There was no escape from his crime as the voice continued to spite his with cheer.

"…_someone killing the king is bigger news then anything else_…._"_

Claudius had nowhere to turn and he could no longer think straight for his fear blinded him.

"…_can you hear their steps as they march to fetch his head?…"_

He began to hear footsteps approaching and his heart nearly stopped and he suddenly dropped to his knees and screamed into the air.

"Make it stop! Please don't kill me!!!"

_"…does he say he's sorry? I failed to hear it…."_

"I am! I am!! I'm sorry, more then anything I'm sorry!!!"

_"…to say it is to say it but mean it too…God won't believe it and neither will his ghost….neither will the public…."_

"Oh no! No, no, no!! I'm sorry and I mean it!!! God above, please look inside me and see the truth!! Can you not see how deep my apology is?! Can you!?"

_"…punish yourself like a good man does…sorry through actions then in doubtful words…"_

Claudius began to hear the taunting words over and over again and he could take no more. He took a chair and began to bash them into the walls, trying to make the voice from the other side become silent. But, nothing he did could silence the voice nor make it quiver in fear or become lower in tone. It merely laughed as it continued, torturing him with even worse thoughts.

_"…maybe they'll hang him or slowly chop him into bits….or maybe they'll beat him with stones or burry him alive…or drown him yes…drown in his lies or burn in the flames of sweet death!"_

"I WISH NOT FOR DEATH!!!!!!!"

"My lord, are you okay!?" shouted a voice from down below.

Claudius came out from his room in an insane daze, a bottle of ear poison in each hand.

"My lord? MY LORD? I am not your lord! I merely take the place of him because…" he said as he held up both bottles of ear poison, "I killlled him….me…I did it! Me, me ME!"

He raised the bottles high in the air and twirled as he let out an insane laugh. From his pocket he took out a few more bottles and threw them down below and they shattered on impact with the marble floor. Gertrude came out and watched him as he insanely danced and shouted his confession and laughed manically. From down the hall, Hamlet curiously walked in and stared at the sight, which amused him as it confused everyone else.

"Is this true?!"

"As true as the sun!" he shouted as he threw another bottle.

Claudius turned to see Hamlet and gave him a wide grin as he wildly walked over to him. He took his hand and twirled him and continued to laugh and a snicker escaped Hamlet's lips as well.

"Hamlet, it's all not a dream!" he said in a daze, the grin still on his lips, "It's real! As real as…as…"

He stopped and was overcome by laughter and the very sight of Claudius out of his mind led Hamlet to laugh as well…yet let down his guard. Claudius in his state of insanity, swung around the grabbed a sword from on a wall and without hesitation, stabbed Hamlet in the stomach, the sword going completely through.

"It's not a dream, Hamlet….it's as real as…death," Claudius finished as he withdrew the sword from inside Hamlet.

Hamlet, in complete shock fell to his knees, Gertrude and everyone else in the room looked in horror at the unexpected sight. Hamlet fell over and laid on the ground, his eyes still wide open and in shock. His breathing was becoming sharper and everything around him seemed to go in slow motion. The world flipped upside down as he laid there in pain, hopeless and dying. Claudius continued to twirl about and then suddenly jumped from up top the staircase all the way down to the floor. He was alive but had shattered his left leg but despite the immense pain….he continued to laugh and laugh…..

_"What do you dream of now, dear Hamlet. You've had your revenge and drove Claudius to insanity….you nearly recovered your own if it wasn't for that sword. As I, your mind, have said before, you had acted insane but I said otherwise. I told you to not kill Claudius but instead torture him and take away his sanity You planted those bottles and you slyly spoke tormenting words to torture him. I told it'd be sweeter that way…but I never said it'd be safer. I never said that he'd be weaker in that ill state of mind, if anything he was more dangerous, wasn't he? And now you're gone…we're gone and if you blame me then go ahead but let me tell you this, dear Hamlet…_

_You were never acting insane….and you were never talking to someone who was sane either….you should have known that I, your ill mind, was never in my right place. That the insane talk of wild things, things that may or may not work or be true. You were too busy worrying over who is lying to you…who to trust. And of all things to trust, you trusted me, your insane mind. Shame you didn't catch that…._

_But at least Claudius can be deceived by his now ill mind too…isn't that nice?"_


End file.
